This is a Boss?! # 10
This is a Boss?! # 10
Si-hoo's eyes were dead serious now.
Anger, confusion, irritation. She'd cycled through all of that, and what was left was a heavy, solemn atmosphere. Looking at me with those eyes, Si-hoo spoke.
"First, I've tried to calm down a bit."
"You're calm now?"
"Yeah. At times like this, I have to be rational."
She had a point.
"Haa."
Si-hoo put a hand to her chest, closed her eyes, and let out a breath.
"I'll admit it. It's partly my fault for hiding my gender. Geun-cheol, you kept obsessively trying to confirm it, and you were staring at my, my breasts..."
"Hold on, Si-hoo."
"Huh?"
"Honestly, now that I know you're a girl, saying the word 'breasts' feels a bit weird. So, instead of 'breasts,' let's just vaguely and euphemistically call them 'the vanquisher of Xiang Yu.'"
"What the hell are you talking about, you lunatic!"
"Why not?"
No kidding, I couldn't even talk about female breasts with Si-hoo when I thought he was a guy, so how am I supposed to talk about breasts with Si-hoo now that she's a girl?
Using a euphemism seems like it'd be less embarrassing.
"Anyway! I think it couldn't be helped!"
"You're being understanding! Thanks, Si-hoo!"
"Th-thanks?!"
"What? Why?"
"What are you thanking me for?"
"For being understanding, obviously?"
What else?
"Ah, that's what you meant. I thought it was something else."
Si-hoo hesitated for a moment, then swept a hand over her chest in apparent relief.
What does that mean?
"What did you think it was?"
"Nothing! It's nothing! Anyway! Geun-cheol! Honestly, I was wrong and you were wrong too! So let's just bury this whole thing!"
That's a great conclusion!
"That's rational! Let's do exactly that!"
"My gender is a secret just between us!"
"Deal!"
Of course I'll protect it!
"I'll take this secret to my grave! No matter what happens, as far as I'm concerned, I don't know you're a girl, Si-hoo. Okay?"
"Okay!"
Honestly, it's a bit suspicious, and I'm not totally sure how to act around Si-hoo now that I know she's a girl, but Si-hoo wouldn't have hidden her gender for some pervy reason.
She must have her circumstances.
Like she said, it's probably a family matter.
If that's the problem, I can just look the other way. Obviously, there'll be a lot more things to keep in mind going forward, but what are friends for? Besides, didn't Si-hoo just save me?
Frankly, if a guy hid his gender to live in the girls' dorm, I'd be throwing a fit and chewing him out right now, but since it's the other way around, I kind of get it.
"Si-hoo. Thanks for saving me earlier. If you hadn't, I'd have been in huge trouble."
"Yeah. I thought that might happen, so I followed you in secret. But for something like this to blow up... haa. I thought I could keep it hidden until the end."
Now that the secret was out, Si-hoo spoke with open frankness, as if there was no helping it.
"Seeing how well you've hidden it so far, yeah. If it weren't for today, you probably could've kept it up somehow. But, Si-hoo."
"Yeah?"
"You're going to keep hiding your gender and attending the academy?"
"Yeah. I have no choice."
"What on earth is going on? What's so serious that you have to do this? Whatever the reason... it looked tough, binding your chest like that. Can't you just reveal you're a girl?"
"About that."
Si-hoo took a sip of coffee and looked toward the window.
"It's difficult. I can't do that."
"Difficult, huh."
Well, yeah.
Seeing how she bound her chest earlier, it wasn't the work of someone who's only done it once or twice. She's clearly gotten used to the male disguise because of some serious situation.
"How difficult could it be? Si-hoo. The secret's already blown, right? So just speak freely, man. As your friend, I ought to know why my buddy is pretending to be a guy. Since I already found out, I mean."
"..."
"Guy or girl, we're friends. Don't you know I'm Kim Geun-cheol, Friendship Man?"
Whatever the case, now that I know there are circumstances.
As a friend, I need to know more.
"Geun-cheol. Honestly, this is kind of a dangerous secret. So it's hard to reveal."
"Less dangerous than a girl sneaking into the boys' dorm, man."
"You—!"
"I'll take the secret to the end. Still, so I can, you know, protect your secret without any lingering doubts and with a clean conscience, I need to know a bit more."
"That... I guess so. Even so, Geun-cheol. If I tell you this, then you have to tell me properly what happened today, okay?"
"Of course! By sharing secrets, let's form a kind of collusive bond."
I'll have to tell her everything about Kitty, too.
Here, now that we know each other's serious secrets, it's better to just share them as friends.
Wouldn't it be unfair if only I knew things one-sidedly?
That's the conclusion of me, Friendship Man Kim Geun-cheol.
"A collusive bond. I like that."
Si-hoo's expression brightened.
"Still, Geun-cheol. This could be really dangerous. You can't go telling anyone, okay?"
"I told you, no need to emphasize it. Let's hear just how dangerous this secret is."
"Actually, Geun-cheol."
After glancing left and right briefly, Si-hoo leaned her head forward. Then, as if asking me to lend her my ear, she pointed at her own ear.
"What kind of secret needs whispering? Here."
I immediately put my ear close.
"The thing is."
Si-hoo whispered.
"I'm actually related to the Sovereign Commander by blood."
What?
"What the fuck!!!"
"Kyaa!"
"What kind of insane—!"
Si-hoo is related to the Sovereign Commander by blood?!
"Holy shit! What does that mean?!"
"Quiet! Quiet! It means exactly what I said, so be quiet!"
"Hup!"
I immediately clamped both hands over my mouth. Si-hoo's related to the Sovereign Commander? Wait a second. Something's weird, then.
"Hold on. Hey, man. That Sovereign Commander guy, his surname is Kim, isn't it? Yours is Lee?"
"Geun-cheol. That kind of thing means nothing. Do you think the Sovereign Commander's household in this country can't just change something like that?"
"Totally acknowledged."
He's an absolute monarch, after all.
"Right. So that's what it was. So then, what—succession? Or something political? Is that why you're forced to pretend to be a man? Because being a girl puts you at a disadvantage?"
"You sure are quick to guess. I'll just say it's for those kinds of reasons for now. I can't reveal more than that, Geun-cheol."
"Fine, that's enough. I get it now. If the powers-that-be are involved... I can understand that kind of bizarre behavior."
"It's not bizarre behavior?"
"So you're saying you just did it for fun?"
"Fine, it is bizarre behavior!"
Having admitted it coolly, Si-hoo slumped down in her chair, leaning her back against it and letting out a breath as if all her strength had drained out.
"Haa. I feel kind of relieved. To be able to share a secret with a friend."
She must've been going through a lot mentally.
"It's actually been really tough. Having to live keeping this secret all alone. I've heard it drilled into me since I was little... but it's too hard. This."
"Yeah, it would be. As long as you feel better now."
Thinking from Si-hoo's perspective, I've found out an incredibly important secret of hers. Then I should help her cover it up.
That's what a friend does.
Friendship: supporting each other for the sake of friendship. How sacred is that? You could call Si-hoo and me sacred friends—divine friends.
"Anyway, so... should I..."
Treat you like a girl now?
That question rose right up to my throat, but nothing's really going to change. Si-hoo is just a friend. It's just that a friend who gave off a bit of a female vibe turned out to actually be a girl.
"Hmm?"
"Never mind. Don't worry about it going forward. Nothing's really going to change."
"That... thanks."
I'll sort out my own feelings in time.
"So, Geun-cheol. What exactly happened today? What was that monster I've never seen before? And what was that strange space? Geun-cheol, I've never seen anything like that. A monster and a phenomenon I have absolutely no knowledge of."
Someone at Si-hoo's level would know every monster type by heart.
If even she doesn't know it, it's huge.
"That means something serious. A monster even I don't recognize. You're mixed up in something big, aren't you, Geun-cheol?"
"Well, it's not that it's serious, exactly..."
In any case, with Si-hoo here, there's no way Kitty could eavesdrop. Si-hoo's senses are too sharp and she'd detect it immediately.
So let me just tell her.
Of course, just as Si-hoo is hiding her deeper circumstances, I'll hide mine too.
"The truth is, Si-hoo. Until now, I was just putting up a smoke screen to avoid getting suspected of colluding with a monsterkin. That was all a cover."
"I knew it. What you said back then wasn't the whole story, was it?"
"Right?"
Let me explain.
"That monsterkin isn't exactly hostile toward me."
"What?"
I immediately explained it to Si-hoo.
That the blonde humanoid monsterkin was a being I met one day, and that she acts pretty friendly toward me. That she said she'd use me for something but didn't reveal much, and in exchange for using me, she'd provide me with real combat experience. I condensed it down roughly like that.
I left out the part about the Void Princess.
"I don't really know if she's actually got a crush on me or what. Anyway, I've been fighting monsters when she tells me to. Just like this time."
"What... Are you saying that monsterkin is supporting you, Geun-cheol?"
"Pretty much. I went into a dungeon with her once before, too."
"A dungeon?!"
Si-hoo was visibly startled.
"No wonder your growth has been so fast! So the monsterkin was helping you...! Th-then, what about the one that appeared this time?!"
"I don't really know about that either. She told me monsters were scheduled to pop out there, and told me to deal with them. When I saw them, they were definitely special types."
"They were way too special! Geun-cheol, those aren't monsters you can handle alone!"
"I got two kills, didn't I?"
"Only two! You couldn't take them all on by yourself!"
Well, that's true.
"It's dangerous. I have no idea what her objective is. And to know a gate would appear in advance, and to be plotting something with unknown monsters...!"
I don't know about the plotting part.
"That time-stop and otherworld-ization phenomenon. That's no ordinary matter. If this gets out, Geun-cheol, you'll definitely be dragged away and it'll be the end for you!"
I grinned at Si-hoo, who was clutching her head.
"Heh heh heh, so take it to the grave. Got it?"
"Geun-cheol...! How can you be so laid-back! Ah, don't tell me!"
"Hm?"
"Don't tell me you're telling me this just to help cover up my secret?"
"That's part of it."
"Hngh!"
Was it out of emotion? Tears welled up in both of Si-hoo's eyes.
"Don't cry, man."
"How can I not cry!"
Good.
Looks like this wraps up the boob incident pretty neatly.
But seriously, what the hell kind of bastard is this Sovereign Commander to make Si-hoo disguise herself as a man? No, wait. She said it was a family matter, so maybe she's not that close to the Sovereign Commander himself.